Andy Karl, Harriet Harris, Kara Lindsay, Heidi Blickenstaff, Douglas Sills, Alli Mauzey and more have joined the casts of the new musicals that will be presented during the National Alliance for Musical Theatre's 25th Annual Festival of New Musicals.

Kara Lindsay

Presented Oct. 17-18 in Manhattan, the annual weekend of musical theatre provides a platform for emerging and established theatre writers to showcase their works with casts featuring Broadway and Off-Broadway actors. Many of the new works find life at regional companies, as well as Off-Broadway and on Broadway.

"The Protagonists was once a mighty group of superheroes battling the forces of evil. Twenty years later, they find themselves battling the forces of thinning hair and menopause. But when an old nemesis re-emerges with a sinister plan, can the former superfriends pull it together to save the world again?"

The Boy Who Danced on Air Book and lyrics by Charlie Sohne, music by Tim Rosser Featuring Giuseppe Bausilio (Billy Elliott), Anthony Lee Medina (Spring Awakening), Fajer Al-Kaisi, Sorab Wadia (Nymph Errant) and Jonathan Raviv (My Name is Asher Lev).

"The Boy Who Danced on Air focuses on a tradition in Afghanistan called Bacha Bazi: wealthy men take in poorer boys and train them to dance. The boys perform at parties and are often sexually abused. This is the story of what happens when two of those boys fall in love."

"Come From Away tells the true story of when seven thousand people landed on the doorstep of Gander, Newfoundland... and the people of Gander 'put the kettle on.' A rocking musical about when 38 planes from around the world were diverted to a small, Canadian community on September 11, 2001 — doubling its population in an instant. While the world witnessed the worst acts of humankind, the stranded passengers had their faith in humanity restored by the spirited people who comforted those who had come from away."

"Early morning, July 24, 1915: Moored on the Chicago River, the S.S. Eastland overflows with passengers ready for their company picnic. The boat leans to port – and keeps leaning, until it tips completely over. By day's end, hundreds will perish, whole families will vanish and unexpected heroes will emerge."

"When Efua Kuti is pulled from school and forced to marry, she flees her village in Ghana to pursue her dream: a college education. Guided by the spirit of her grandmother, she confronts life-threatening dangers, and in doing so, discovers her true strength. A joyous tale of modern Africa with driving rhythms and rich vocal harmonies, this big, coming-of-age musical celebrates the promise within us all."

"Germany, 1838. What if Clara's nutcracker had been built by a clockmaker whose children were held hostage by the Sandman? What if the clockmaker’s nanny had invited the Sandman in? What if the Sandman steals children’s eyes at night? Too ghastly to contemplate. Who dares put such horrors in a musical?"

"Jane Austen meets Helen Gurley Brown in the stylish world of 1964 Manhattan. Filled with the buoyant sounds and bright spirit of the mid-1960s, The Single Girl's Guide is a fizzy riff on 'Emma' and 'Sex and The Single Girl' that echoes the questions we continue to ask about marriage, sex and being single."

"Take three little superstar Piglets, their devoted single-parent Mom, a misunderstood Big Bad Wolf and the award-winning tuneful wit of Stiles and Drewe and you've got the perfect "Great Big Little Broadway Show" for audiences of three years old and up. This very curly musical tail will huff, puff and blow you away!"